The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin have “in common” that they want to “destroy” democracies, Joe Biden said yesterday in his speech to the Americans, announcing that he will ask Congress today to approve “urgently” the funding of US aid to Israel and Ukraine.
The US will guarantee its security “for generations” by helping the two warring countries, the US president insisted in a rare White House address.
“Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they have this in common: They both want to completely wipe out a neighboring democracy,” the octogenarian Democrat said some 20 hours after returning from Tel Aviv, where he reassured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. that Washington stands by his country.
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“We cannot let terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin win and we will not. I refuse to go back for this to happen,” said the American president.
For this reason, he will ask, as of today, the Congress to approve “with an urgent procedure” funding for the granting of financial assistance to Israel and Ukraine, “our important partners”, he emphasized.
With this speech, only the second he addressed to the Americans from the so-called “Resolute Desk”, Joe Biden, a candidate for his re-election, wanted to convince his opponents on the American right and the voters, who seem to be tired of war in Ukraine, that there is a need to approve a huge aid package to the Israeli and Ukrainian governments.
By linking Israel’s defense to Ukraine’s, he hopes he can build the consensus so far lacking in Congress to secure further military aid to Kiev. The request to Congress will include $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.
Also, $10 billion will be requested for humanitarian aid, $14 billion for border security with Mexico and $7 billion for the Indo-Pacific region, especially Taiwan, according to the same source. About half of the amount for Ukraine will go toward replacing and replenishing the US military.
Paralysis
The speech also gave the Democratic Party an opportunity to project opposition to the Republican Party, which remains mired in intra-party conflict led by supporters of Donald Trump — who he may well face in the 2024 presidential election.
The Democrats control the Senate, the Republicans since the beginning of the year the House of Representatives, marginally.
In that body, the hard-right faction of the GOP not only ousted its leader, Kevin McCarthy, at the beginning of the month, but so far the effort to appoint a new “speaker” is deadlocked. The Parliament, immersed in this crisis, is currently unable to adopt the slightest measure or bill.
The US president spoke a few hours before the speech with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, who thanked him for the “vital support” of the US.
Although some Republicans appear to oppose continued military aid to Ukraine, they have been among the first to call for aid to Israel, increased security on the southern border to stem immigration and a tougher stance on China.
Joe Biden, whose country has spent tens of billions of dollars to support Ukraine’s military, wants to overcome hesitation and opposition from Republicans and the American public over the conflict, which looks set to last.
“History has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay the price” and “when dictators don’t pay the price,” they cause “more chaos and death and destruction” and “the costs and threats to America and the world increase ».
If Russian President Putin is not stopped, Mr. Biden argued, he can threaten Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and if he “attacks a NATO ally we will defend every inch of it.” If the US does not act, he insisted, “the risks of conflict and chaos could spread,” he insisted.
The American president knows well that time is counting down. If Congress does not pass a new budget, the US will find itself in the infamous shutdown, the suspension of part of the services of the federal state and the fiscal paralysis, from November 17.
“America is a beacon to the world,” “even today,” he said, warning against the consequences of “petty” political controversies on the country’s role internationally. “We cannot allow petty, partisan, angry politics to prevent us from fulfilling our responsibilities as a great nation,” he said. “I refuse to allow it.”
“American leadership is what keeps the world in its place” and “our alliances are what keep us safe,” he argued.
